Job in Emeryville, where to rent? (Oakland, Berkeley: apartments, neighborhood, school district)

[sodacart]

I just got a job in Emeryville, and will be moving from the Chicago suburbs. We have a toddler, so school district is not an issue, but safety is very important to us.

Can someone please suggest where we can find good apartments so that the commute to Emeryville isn't too bad? We will be very comfortable with something similar to the North side of Chicago, or with something like Schaumburg or Naperville (suburbs of Chicago).

[user376]

From my memory of Chicago, the north side is quite different from Schaumburg and Naperville (urban vs. suburban).

In any case I'd look in Albany, north Berkeley, Rockridge (neighborhood in Oakland), and the Elmwood (neighborhood in south Berkeley). All of those are family-friendly, safe, and close to E'ville.

[sodacart]

Thank you. I know that Chicago suburbs and the north side are very different, but what I meant was that either of those 2 lifestyles would be fine for us. Not, for example, something like the south side of Chicago